trbccoffeebreak

“Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.” Ephesians 6:19-20 (NIV)

Confident, bold, eloquent in speech – isn’t that what we’d love. However, sweaty palms and quaking voice accompany us before speaking to a group or on stage. Butterflies flipping in our tummy send us racing to the ladies’ room. And after a few bouts of this, we decide we just can’t do it. Our message, our testimony, gets overshadowed by “us.”

The self- absorption we sweetly call the fear of speaking in public consumes us squishing away His message. Yes, it’s our focus on “us” that steals away those moments of sharing our God story. We throw out our bag of excuses in the presence of even a small audience and chose to silence our voice. What if we say the wrong thing? What if they remember our past and discount what we’re saying about God now? And we didn’t even touch the lack of the right outfit or latest hairstyle to clinch the speaking in front of others deal.

Don’t you just love the way Paul left “us” out of his prayer to God. His focus wasn’t on how he looked or his past. Instead, the former arrogant persecutor of Christ followers simply asked for boldness in sharing the life changing gospel – the birth, life, death and resurrection of His Lord. Wouldn’t we be wise to do the same and release the chains holding us back from speaking boldly in His name?

“Father, help us to eliminate the “us” and focus our hearts on being ambassadors of your life transforming gospel.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Coffee Break

I Still Do, a Family Life event, is designed for married couples to reconnect and strengthen their marriages. Dennis Rainey, Alistair Begg, and other speakers and entertainers will be sharing from the stage. The conference will be hosted live at TRBC and simulcast nationwide to thousands of churches! It’s an exciting event and we’d love to see the Worship Center filled with couples committed to their marriage, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court decision.